Soil Health in Post-Harvest
By Robert Smith, Chief Agronomist
Pistachio and almond harvests are winding down, and the walnut harvest is in full swing. The attention to detail you paid during the growing season has helped ensure a good yield, and your continued attention to detail after harvest is completed puts an orchard on track to produce a good crop the following year. Building soil resiliency and soil health in your tree fruit and nut orchard after harvest is an essential step toward ensuring continued success for next year’s harvest.
After harvest, building soil health can be achieved by integrating soil inoculants with other complementary products, such as humic acid and seaweed extracts. The soil microbiome comprises a broad range of microbes, including bacteria and fungi. The incredible diversity of the soil microbiome, soil actually hosts the most biodiverse ecosystems, comprised of over 1 million fungi and 1 billion bacteria in a teaspoon of soil, which supports a wide range of functions in your field. Fall is a critical time for application, as the soil’s warmth and moisture enable the establishment of microbes before winter.
Productive orchards and high-quality crops require an abundance of soil microbes and a healthy, diverse microbiome. Implementing soil health practices offers many advantages for growers throughout California.
The advantages of integrating the use of soil inoculants post-harvest extend beyond the soil; improved soil health translates into enhanced water-use efficiency. As soil microbial activity increases, it improves the soil’s nutrient cycling. The increased microbial activity provides a steady release of nutrients, thereby increasing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and reducing the need for other fertilizers. A case study of a 175-acre almond orchard found a 55% decrease in fertilizer costs after implementing soil health practices (Accelerating Soil Health, AFT, July 2019). A healthier, more biologically diverse soil can help to naturally limit populations of harmful pathogens, supporting healthier trees.
Healthy soil is the basis of productive and sustainable farming — but maintaining it is increasingly complex. Ultra Gro Plant Food offers an exceptional portfolio of products to enhance your soil’s microbial activity. The three most important are OSB (Organic Soil Booster), Excite Soluble Seaweed Powder, and K-Humate 26.
Organic Soil Booster is an innovative soil-applied inoculant containing six unique microbial cultures that is coupled with fermentation media biostimulants that enhance and restore beneficial soil microbe populations to supply essential nutrients, stimulate root development, and promote more fibrous root hairs, increased root density, and longer root length. OSB improves nutrient and soil moisture utilization while helping mitigate stress and maximize agronomic benefits. OSB’s concentrated formulation allows for use in both conventional and organic production.
Excite Soluble Seaweed Extract Powder is a premium Ascophyllum nodosum containing a complex mix of synergistic bioactive compounds that allow crops to reach their full yield potential. Excite Seaweed is a powerful soil amendment that enhances soil microbial activity, which is an important step in increasing nutrient release in the soil. Excite Seaweed enhances crop quality and productivity by promoting root growth, improving nutritional health, and increasing tolerance to challenging growing conditions.
K-Humate 26 is a highly concentrated 20% liquid humic acid with 6% Potassium. The application will provide plants with potassium, improve soil moisture and nutrient retention, reduce nutrient tie-up in the soil, improve soil structure, and stimulate plant root growth and soil biological activity.
The attention to detail you paid to your soil’s health this fall, after harvest, is setting the stage for a stronger start next spring. By giving the soil biology a boost with Ultra Gro products, such as Organic Soil Booster, Excite Seaweed, and K-Humate 26, growers have powerful tools to restore and stimulate the soil microbiome, enhance nutrient efficiency, and improve water-use efficiency.
With healthier soils and stronger trees, the benefits extend beyond the orchard floor—yielding not only improved productivity but also greater long-term sustainability for California’s nut and tree fruit growers.
